Driverless Cars Must Capture Crash Data, Ward Off Hackers, U.K. Says

By

Ania Nussbaum

Jul 21, 2015 1:03 pm ET

Cars might not need drivers in the future, but they’ll need airliner-style “black boxes” to record crash data and computer firewalls to prevent hacks, according to new standards from the U.K. government.

As self-driving vehicles are tested in four U.K. cities, the government’s nonstatutory “code of practice” for testing automated vehicles addresses worries that companies might use such cars’ software to collect personal data or that hackers might take remote control of them. The Department for Transport published the code Sunday.